It’s time for Companies House to take a deeper look.
A Labour MP has called on Companies House to look into the ownership of a design company that donated £200,000 to Reform UK last year and has links with Iranian-born billionaire Sasan Ghandehari.
The Interior Architecture Landscape or IAL Ltd, made seven donations to Reform between June and August 2025, totalling £200,000 and has John Richard Simpson, a church warden and conveyancer, listed as the person with significant control of the company.
However, the Financial Times reports that new evidence has emerged linking the company to the Ghandehari family, including the former owner of the company, Richard Darby, working for HP Trust.
The paper reported last month that Farage, who has previously railed against world elites and globalism attended Davos on a pass sponsored by the HP trust.
Now Liam Byrne, chair of parliament’s business and trade select committee, has asked the UK corporate registry to open a formal probe into the accuracy of Interior Architecture Landscape Limited’s register.
The Guardian reported in September last year that the company had received a winding-up petition from tax authorities.
A winding up petition is brought as a measure of last resort by HMRC, whose website says: “We will only apply to the courts to make a person or company insolvent as a final course of action, after we have considered all other ways to recover a debt.”
On the evidence linking the company to an Iranian-born billionaire, the FT reports: “A lawyer for Ghandehari, who is a British citizen, confirmed in a statement that the family were clients of IAL Ltd but said that they were “not responsible for its donations”.
“IAL told the FT in an emailed statement that Simpson, the “person with significant control” of the British business since 2021, was the company’s ultimate beneficial owner and “exercises genuine control over the company’s affairs”.
That however still raises more questions than it answers. It’s time for Companies House to take a deeper look.
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